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Marbury interview on ESPN2 last night

Anyone watch this ?

I was saving my notes for one of my first blogs on my website, but the website will not be open until mid-summer. So here goes.

Marbury after signing his life away.

-by Rich Tree

After being a Marbury fan his whole career I can honestly say that after he came to New York he has been mentally abused. He is an old school player and man that kept everything inside in the motto of being the strong and silent type. It is evident that Marbury is a straight up honest guy and does have some mental issues he will probably deal with until his playing days are over. He admitted he had an affair because it was the right thing to do. I. Thomas obvisouly was hanging out with Marbury and wanted Stephon to lie on the stand. Thomas obvouisly was acting out and even if not being abusive or harassing he had crossed the line. I.Thomas was the high school teacher that was partying with his students. After this trial Marbury and Thomas no longer spoke and Thomas even benched Stephon a week later.

I still root for Marbury but in a different kind of way. Now, you don't expect Stephon to be the great player anymore but true Marbury fans root for him to get his life together and build a positive public character. Larry Brown publicly called out Marbury in interviews stating he was not a team player. Larry Brown being hypocrictical demanded to have Steve Francis on the roster. Francis was a waste of cash and probably the most me first player in the NBA. Brown knew that the franchise was lost and this was one job that he wanted out of and didn't care about anyone on the team. Marbury took the blame for Brown's pathetic attempt at coaching in NYC.

Everyone knew, even die-hard Marbury fans, that Steph was not worth the contract he signed, especially in New York. When he signed that contract he offically become overpaid but the Knicks were trying to save the franchise with the local boy coming home. Isiah Thomas, quite posibly the worst NBA executive/coach in the history of the NBA, had a team full of rejects and an overpaid player destined to be a scapegoat. The stuggling Knicks had Marbury putting some fans in the seats in his first season or two and then in turned completely downhill. Everyone knows the story from there until the day Marbury becomes a Celtic so I won't repeat it here.

As you can tell Marbury lost some sanity along the way. His father's death along with losing some other people very dear to him piled on top of the boatload of problems he had held inside. In the ESPN interview he admits that he needed help and was seeing a professional for his mental instability. Marbury is a legend at in Coney Island and has done some great things. Just imagine he provided hair cuts for local kids that can't afford it and has developed a new strategy in making sneakers affordable to the kids in every community. Just imagine how strong feeling must be aginst an individual to not care about such great things he has done all because he didn't win enough games in his NBA career. Marbury is not perfect nor a horrible being, as evident by him cheating on his wife. He is admirable by admitting and accepting his shortcoming and owning up his faults. Unlike I.Thomas, L.Brown, the Knicks franchise, and some of his teammates along the feels remorse and is truly saddened for not being able to give everyone else what they wanted him to do. He was a man that was told being a good player wasn't good enough. He had to be the best and achieve everything that was excepted.

Marbury never blamed anyone nor backlashed in even times where he couldn't mentally handle the load. He is now a Celtic and is mentally lost. He stands next to K.G. every night and his memories still haunt him about his early days in the NBA. For if anything, heading to Boston and being a bench player is fine for someone trying to stabilize his life. He is one of the only players in NBA history both criticized for taking too many shots and passing up shots at the same time. People only criticize you if you are great or have the ability to be part of the elite.

Marbury now goes through his day the way a undrafted rookie does in the NBA. He no longer has camera's around him. He no longer is expected to carry the team. He no longer is expected to succeed. If anything, he is now expected to fail. Marbury was always content with what other people said about him. It never affected that way he made decisions weather they be good or bad decisisons.

He now plays out this season as an 'extra' on a Movie that was already being filmed. Next year he will move on and see if there is anything left that he can give mentally. As a fan you are saddened by watching a man that was broken down into something he isn't. He now plays the game wondering, "what is going to go wrong next?". For like a recovering alcoholic that only has good memories while being intoxicated, Marbury joined a team to not rebuild his career, stats, or imagine but to rebuild his psyche. He wants to know good things can happen with his life when basketball is involved.

Being a Knick fan I still watch all his games but don't look up to him for his basketball talent anymore. I watch D.Wade and hope he will be a Knick and compete for us to win back the city and the NBA. Marbury has been through a journey where sympath was not an option for a man that was given 20 plus million a year. For a man that wanted someone to reach out to him his whole career didn't get the help he needed. Mike D'Antoni turned his back on Marbury 2 times when he was the team's best player in both situations. Stephon's character was fully tested throughout his career but many people didn't see that their character was being tested as well when there was Marbury just wanting someone, anyone on his side.

Finally, K.G. and Doc Rivers say, "Hey, this guy isn't as bad as you think." They take him in knowing that they don't really need him. He really needed the Celtics more than anyone. K.G. and Doc said(in actions) we respect where you have been and what you have done, so now you have a chance to be a part of something big and enjoy it. K.G., Ray, Pierce were all nothing special, is the eyes of basketball history, for years. Now the brought a sense of meaning to Boston and meaning back to Marbury's life.

Marbury's life didn't work out as planned in that magical blueprint layed by Sports Enthusiasts but today his journey finally has taken the first step to happiness. Marbury gets no happiness in the Knicks demise. He gets no accolades for the Celtics success. His reward is freedom from his thoughts that crippled him from living a life without mental anguish.

So, includsion Marbury was not a success in your eyes. Not the ideal citizen. Not the great ball player. Maybe not the best man he could be. That isn't the way to determine a man's worth. His worth was determine when he admitted all of these things to himself and accepted his faults. The ever-living Starbury has developed into a man that lives day to day making his life better and all he wants in return is respect and a positve metal atomoshere. We forget sports figures are human and have obsticles to overcome just like the people in our family. Marbury is now content with his life and his place in society and the basketball world. He doesn't want your sympathy but we should offer and look with 'fresh eyes." It is hard for everyone else to accept his role and today I am no longer a fan of Stephon Marbury the basketball player but a fan of the comeback, underdog that has made American's since George Washington. It is funny how a man that has done "nothing" can take a career away from one of the most respected basketball players in our lifetime and demoted him to exile in Florida, or maybe the story is a pun of what the human eye can transcript in introspect. Thanks you for reading. P.E.A.C.E.

Stephon "Starbury" Marbury is my all time favorite point guard. It is too bad things did not work out in New York. Isiah Thomas had a big opportunity to draft Brandon Roy and Andrew Bynum, and make the Knicks a solid playoff team, but he traded our first round picks for Eddy Curry. Good luck to him in Boston.

I thing you guys are getting the wrong idea. I was writing some for a blog entry for someone that isn't a Knick fan. Just wanted some feedback on the writings and point of view, didn't want to spark a Marbury/Boston debate.